Feed-box.



UNrTED sTATEs PATENT oFFroE.

FRANCIS M. BENNETT, OF ORANGE, CALIFORNIA.

FEED-BOX.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. BEN- NETT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Orange, in the county of Orange and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Feed-Box, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to feed boxes, and the main object of theinvention is to prevent waste of feed by preventing the feed frompassing to the feed box only just as fast as it is taken by the stock.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for indicating theamount of feed in the box.

Another object of the invention is to prevent stock from eating too fastand not chewing their food properly, thus injuring their digestion, bypreventing the stock from obtaining food from the feed box only so fastas they are able to take it up and masticate it.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referringthereto Figure 1 is a sectional view through a stall provided with thefeed box, the latter being shown in vertical section and supplied withfeed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation'of the feed box enlarged, a portion ofthe box being in section on line Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on lineno3-no3 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on lline o4-r Fig. 2.

The feed box comprises a substantially semi-cylindrical hopper 1 havinga flaring upper edge 2, the back wall 3 of the hopper being extendedabove the up er edge to form -an extension 4 which afforc s a means ofsearea as shown in Fig. 4. The lower end of the spout S is supported ina partition 9 which extends transversely of a box 10. The hopper 1 isprovided with a series of small perforations 11 by means of which theheight of feed within the ho per may be determined without having to ookthrough the top of the hopper, which would be inconvenient as the top ofthe hopper is rather high.

When the feed is placed in the feed box it Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed March 28, 1908.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

serial No. 423,964.

slides down and flows out of the bottom of the spout 8 into the box 10about as shown in Fig. 1. The angle of the' spout 8 is a very importantfeature, as if the spout 8 has too steep a pitch the feed progresses toofast through the spout and the stock will thus eat too fast, while ifthe spout does not have suflicient pitch the feed will not run out fastenough, and I have found by experiment that substantially the pitch of45 shown in Fig. 1 is the most satisfactory. The contracted portion ofthe spout restricts the entrance of feed from the hopper into the spout,while below the contracted portion the spout is somewhat larger so thatthe flow of feed through the spout below the con tractedportion will beeasy and the spout will not choke and clog. The stock have access to thefeed only at the mouth of the spout, and the wall 9 prevents injury tothe v stock which might be caused if the mouth of the spout wereunprotected.

When the spout is contracted as described and arranged substantially atthe angle shown, the feed will travel through the spout only so fast asthe stock eats the feed away from the mouth, and the stock can not eatfaster than the rate of flow of the feed through the spout, which rateof flow is determined by the construction of the spout and itsinclination, as described.

What I claim is 1. A feed box comprising a hopper, an inclined spout atthe lower end of the hopper,'

a box at the lower end of the spout, and a transverse wall in said boxsupporting the lower end of said spout.

2. A feed box comprising a substantially semi-cylindrical hopper havinga contracted lower end, an inclined spout at the lower end of thecontracted portion, the back Wall of the hopper being extended above thehopper to form means for attachment, a box at the lower end of thespout, and a transverse Wall in said box into which the spout extendsand through which the spout dis-

